The Andy's Early Risers Jazz Jam is focused on being the most accessible Jazz Jam Session to all ages in the city of Chicago. Hosting these sessions will be a cast of characters who are the "who's who" in the Chicago Jazz Scene today. Drummer/Educator Charles "Rick" Heath III has stepped up to take the helm of this early night jam session to help present some of the up-and-coming young lions that our great city has to offer.

The Jam Session has been a long standing tradition of Jazz throughout the years. Jam sessions are often used to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one participant, or may be wholly improvisational. Jam sessions can range from very loose gatherings of amateurs to sophisticated improvised recording sessions intended to be edited and released to the public.

The New Andy's Jazz Jam is conducted in appreciation of Jazz by both the well entrenched professionals currently on the scene and up-and-coming professional musicians and music school students looking to break into the scene. Typical format is that the Charles Heath Quartet will perform the 5pm-6:30pm show with the 7pm-8:30pm show being a full on Jam Session. Session musician attendance for the 5pm show will dictate if the full on Jam Session will begin in the first set.